Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the gap between her Department's funding rates for early years childcare and the cost of provision.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The government is prioritising and protecting investment in the early years, and in 2026/27 we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24.

On average nationally, next year we are increasing the 3- and 4-year-old hourly funding rate by 4.95%, the 2-year-old hourly funding rate by 4.36% and funding rate for the 9 months to 2-year-old entitlement by 4.28%. National average funding rate increases continue to reflect in full forecast cost pressures on the early years sector, including the National Living Wage announced at Autumn Budget 2025, and go further.

The department uses the early years national funding formulae (EYNFF) to distribute the early years entitlements budget to local authorities. The EYNFF determine local authority hourly funding rates by taking into consideration the different costs of delivering early years provision in different parts of the country.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the average time taken for transfers of care of patients being discharged from hospitals to home care provision.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is important that people are discharged promptly from hospital with the right support in place. This winter, local systems have been asked to place a particular focus on reducing bed occupancy and improving patient flow, whilst from 2025/26, National Health Service trusts have been asked to eliminate discharge delays of more than 48 hours caused by issues in the hospital and to work with local authorities to reduce the longest delays, including those linked to arranging onwards care packages.

Through the Better Care Fund (BCF) the Government has provided £9 billion to be used jointly by the NHS and local authorities towards achieving agreed goals, including reducing discharge delays for those awaiting home care provision.

In 2026/27 the BCF will continue to focus on those services that are essential for integrated health and social care, such as hospital discharge, intermediate care, rehabilitation, and reablement.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a reduction in the number of experienced childminders on the availability of early years and out-of-school childcare places in the context of the expansion of funded childcare hours.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

This department is taking a range of measures to support the financial sustainability of childminding businesses and other early years providers. From April 2026, local authorities will be required to pass at least 97% of their funding directly to providers (an increase from 96%). We are also working with local authorities and others to ensure that childminders and other early years providers can be paid monthly for the funded hours they provide, making their income more stable. Furthermore, from 1 November 2024, the government introduced new flexibilities to help childminders join and stay in the profession, supporting the government’s commitment to roll out expanded childcare entitlements and give children the best start in life.

In addition, the expansion of the early years entitlements could benefit childminders in different ways. For example, the national average three and four year-old hourly funding rate of local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%. Childminders may also benefit from an expected increase in demand for places.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed local authority care fee uplifts below the minimum price for homecare on the sustainability of the domiciliary care market.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes negotiating fees individually with care providers, including in the domiciliary market, to achieve a sustainable balance of quality, effectiveness, and value for money.

We expect local authorities to pay sustainable fee rates that meet the costs of delivering care, which is why the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund provided over £1 billion for adult social care to local authorities over 2025/26. This can be used to target increasing fee rates paid to adult social care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on setting adult social care fee uplifts in financial year 2026-27.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes negotiating fees individually with care providers to achieve a sustainable balance of quality, effectiveness, and value for money.

The Department recognises that sustainable fee rates play a crucial role in improving the quality of care. Appropriate fee rates enable providers to recruit and retain a skilled workforce, ultimately supporting more stable, higher quality services for people who draw on care.

In December 2025, the Department launched a new publication, Adult social care priorities for local authorities: 2026 to 2027. The publication lists expectations for local authorities to help drive their delivery of the Government’s overall priorities for adult social care. It states that local authorities should, ‘set fee rates at a sustainable level, in line with commissioning priorities, to help shape markets and enable adult social care providers to recruit a skilled workforce and stabilise and improve workforce capacity, and in preparation for employment rights reforms, starting from financial year 2026, and the fair pay agreement, starting in financial year 2028’. Further information on the fair pay agreement is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fair-pay-agreement-process-in-adult-social-care

The publication is not statutory guidance, nor is it a replacement for local authorities’ existing statutory duties under the Care Act 2014, rather the expectations outlined in the publication are designed to help support local authorities in delivering their current statutory duties.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the impact of increases in employer National Insurance contributions on the financial sustainability of domiciliary care providers.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. That means more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change this financial year.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

To support social care authorities to deliver key services, in light of pressures, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. This is part of an overall increase to local government spending power of 6.8% in cash terms.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to publish proposals for a long-term funding settlement for adult social care during this Parliament.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27 to 2028-29 sets out multi-year

settlements for local authorities, including upper tier authorities that have social care responsibilities. As part of this, the government have set out the funding available to local authorities for adult social care over three years, with around £4.6 billion of additional funding being made available for adult social care in 2028-29 compared to 2025-26.

Alongside a document setting out priority outcomes and expectations for local authorities’ delivery of adult social care from 2026-27, the Department of Health and Social Care has published local authority level notional allocations for adult social care to facilitate local authority budget setting and plans to progress the delivery of adult social care priorities. Notional allocations are not formal spend expectations but will instead act as a reference point to support local authorities in budget-setting. These will be reviewed annually to reflect new data and any wider changes in local government funding.

The provisional Local Government Settlement consultation has closed and the government will publish the final details in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what oversight mechanisms were in place within NHS England and his Department to monitor the expenditure and governance of overseas medical training schemes operated by NHS trusts.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are a variety of international postgraduate medical training schemes in operation governed by individual National Health Service trusts, medical royal colleges, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and indirectly, NHS England and the General Medical Council. These programmes must be properly governed, deliver value for money, and treat all participants fairly. We expect all NHS organisations to operate in line with these principles.

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 13 January 2026. The bill delivers the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, published in July 2025, to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates, and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period, for specialty training.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it. As part of that plan, we will outline strategies for improving retention, productivity, training, and reducing attrition, enhancing conditions for all staff while gradually reducing reliance on international recruitment, without diminishing the value of their contributions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce alternative (a) training and (b) recruitment schemes for overseas doctors, in the context of changes in funding.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are a variety of international postgraduate medical training schemes in operation governed by individual National Health Service trusts, medical royal colleges, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and indirectly, NHS England and the General Medical Council. These programmes must be properly governed, deliver value for money, and treat all participants fairly. We expect all NHS organisations to operate in line with these principles.

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 13 January 2026. The bill delivers the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, published in July 2025, to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates, and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period, for specialty training.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it. As part of that plan, we will outline strategies for improving retention, productivity, training, and reducing attrition, enhancing conditions for all staff while gradually reducing reliance on international recruitment, without diminishing the value of their contributions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many radiotherapy machines are currently in operation in NHS hospitals, and how this compares with projected clinical need over the next five and ten years.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The number of radiotherapy treatment machines in use across the National Health Service in England is not recorded as part of a nationally mandated data collection.

The commissioning of radiotherapy services is overseen by local systems. They have the responsibility to ensure that sufficient capacity is in place for local populations, taking account of the different factors that can affect demand and capacity. The projected number of machines needed to meet future demand depends on a range of factors including clinical practice, for instance fraction protocols, patient choice, between different equivalent treatments, local working practices, for instance the hours and days of operation, as well as the technical specification of treatment machines, and the throughput per hour.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help preserve hen harrier numbers.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Hen harriers are monitored year-round by Natural England (NE) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. NE staff engage closely with land managers of hen harrier habitat, and in the breeding season support the licenced use of Diversionary Feeding which enables nesting hen harriers to provide sufficient food to their chicks, improving the survival of young harriers while reducing the pressure from hunting on gamebird stock.

Field-based monitoring is underpinned by fitting satellite ‘tags’ to some hen harriers. This provides invaluable insights into their movements and habitat use and flags when and where they might have died, enabling their recovery for postmortem analysis and an enforcement response where illegal persecution may have played a role in the harrier’s death.

Bird of prey persecution is a national wildlife crime priority. Defra supports the work of a Tactical Delivery Group which brings stakeholders together to tackle such criminality. Defra is also a principal funder of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). In 2024, the NWCU launched the Hen Harrier Task Force – a partnership designed to help tackle illegal persecution of the species. It uses innovative technology such as drones and specialised detection dogs to enhance evidence collection in remote areas.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the the numbers of hen harriers over the last 5 years.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The number of breeding hen harriers is assessed annually by Natural England in partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Summaries of these figures are published as blogs via Natural England’s .gov blog page.

Assessments of the number of breeding hen harriers from the last four years can be seen below:

Nesting attempts per upland area of England

In 2025, a peer-reviewed paper was published assessing the population trends in hen harriers in the UK and Isle of Man between 2016 and 2023. This included data and co-authorship from Natural England’s hen harrier programme: https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2024.2446373.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the current average waiting times are for patients to begin radiotherapy treatment following referral, broken down by region and cancer type.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The published data on cancer waiting times in England does not include average waiting times for patients to begin treatment, and the Department does not publish radiotherapy data broken down by tumour type, as we present tumour type and treatment modality breakdowns separately.

However, the Department does publish the 31-day standard performance data for radiotherapy. Whilst the publication does not directly present this data at a regional level, the published commissioner-level data can be aggregated using publicly available mapping tables.

The following table shows 31-day standard performance data for radiotherapy at the regional and national levels, for the latest month of data available at the time of production, November 2025:

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to improve the reliability of rail services that have been returned to state ownership.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Public ownership is a vital step towards rebuilding trust and pride in our railways. On average, publicly owned DfT train operators perform better on punctuality and cancellations than those yet to come under DfT ownership. The department expects all operators, public and private, to deliver good performance for passengers.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the performance of free schools compared with maintained schools and academies in terms of educational outcomes.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Many free schools, run by strong trusts, have contributed to raising standards and achieved strong outcomes for their pupils. However, too many children and young people are still being left behind due to their educational needs or their background.

The department is proceeding with mainstream projects that meet the needs of communities, respond to demographic and housing demand, and raise standards without undermining the viability of existing local schools and colleges. We are backing new schools that offer something unique for students who would otherwise not have access to it. For example, we will open two new maths schools, to give talented students in the North and the Midlands a fairer chance to pursue advanced mathematics.

The department has also announced that we are investing at least £3 billion to create 50,000 new specialist places. To support this investment, we are not proceeding with some mainstream free school projects.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the written Answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 108043 on Roads: Wildlife, if she will amend Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to reclassify cats to ensure drivers are required to stop and report a collision.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

I understand the distress of owners who lose beloved pets and it is a great source of worry and uncertainty when they are lost.

There are no plans to amend section 170 of the Road Traffic Act to make it mandatory for drivers to report road collisions involving cats.

Having a law making it a requirement to report road collisions involving cats would be very difficult to enforce and we have reservations about the difference it would make to the behaviour of drivers, who are aware that they have run over a cat and do not report it.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to answer 104272 of 14 January on Child Benefit, how many of the 5,637 enquiries which remained open have since been addressed; and what the outcomes were.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The latest data relating to Child Benefit compliance activity is being quality assured to ensure accuracy. HMRC will write to the Treasury Committee with an update when the work is completed.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on how Ofwat calculates the cap on which water companies can increase water bills for customers.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Ofwat published methodology for calculating the price controls that cap water bill increases. Ofwat sets these caps independently through its five‑year price review, assessing companies’ plans and the efficient costs needed to meet Government‑set service and environmental expectations. Money approved for infrastructure can only be spent on upgrades that benefit customers and the environment, and cannot be diverted to bonuses, dividends or executive pay, with requirements for companies to return money to customers if they fail to meet performance commitments. The Government has also secured £104 billion of private investment through Price Review 2024, the largest investment programme in the history of the water sector.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that people that do not use TV or radio services do not receive incorrect correspondence about TV licensing.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The BBC is responsible for collection and enforcement of the licence fee. The Government is therefore not involved in TV Licensing operations.

However, the Government expects the BBC to collect the licence fee in an efficient and proportionate manner. Through the BBC Charter Review we are looking at how collection and enforcement of the licence fee can be made fairer.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer 108352 of 29 January 2026 on Child Benefit: Maladministration, if the erroneous suspension of child benefits through the data sharing agreement was raised as part of the weekly feedback sharing; and if she will publish the communication.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Mechanisms for sharing weekly management information and feedback from compliance teams were in place. HMRC do not routinely publish information of this nature.

HMRC use international travel data and other checks to help tackle Child Benefit error and fraud, which is expected to save around £350 million over the next five years.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) issuing and (b) updating travel health advice for Cape Verde on GOV.UK in relation to Shigella infections.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) regularly reviews travel advice to reflect the latest public health information. The travel advice for Cape Verde was initially updated on 15 December 2025, and most recently updated on 6 February 2026, following notification from the UK Health Security Agency of an increase in reports of both the Shigella sonnei and Salmonella infections in travellers returning from the country. The update advises that individuals with underlying health conditions should seek medical advice before travelling. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will update GOV.UK again if further changes are required.